During a breakfast meeting with small business leaders at the White House, Trump said his pick is someone "unbelievably highly respected."

The Supreme Court has had eight justices since the death of conservative Justice Antonin Scalia nearly a year ago. The matter of which party would shape the composition of the nation's highest court became a major factor in the 2016 presidential election.

Last week, it was reported Trump had narrowed his contenders for the court to three: Neil Gorsuch, a judge on the federal appeals court based in Denver; Judge William H. Pryor Jr. of Alabama, who served on the federal appeals court based in Atlanta; and Judge Thomas Hardiman of Pittsburgh, who serves on the 3rd Circuit Federal Court of Appeals.

Former President Barack Obama nominated Merrick Garland for the Supreme Court last year. The Republican-controlled Senate, however, refused to hold a hearing for Garland, citing a precedent that presidents in their final year in the White House do not nominate justices.